This smells on all sides.

This smells on all sides. The Trump administration is considering lifting sanctions on the Russian Direct Investment Fund, the New York Times reports. A US official said the review is part of efforts to improve relations with Moscow and help end the war, while praising fund chief Kirill Dmitriev as a useful intermediary. The fund was sanctioned in 2022, when the Biden administration called it Putin’s “slush fund” and a symbol of Russia’s broader kleptocracy.